According to analysts, even though India's hot equity markets seem to be competing with private equity opportunities, India also offers a buoyant exit option both through mergers and acquisitions and IPOs.

    A few private PE players also made profitable exits. Ashmore Investments and Deutsche Bank sold their stake in Spice Telecom to Telekom Malaysia for approximately $179 million.

    Warburg Pin cush ad sold its stake in Bharti Televentures during 2004-2005 (after having invested $292 million way back in 1999-2001) partly in the stock market and partly through a strategic sale to Vodafone.

    Total realization from the exit was a gigantic $1.6 billion, making this the most profitable exit in the history of PE in India. The attractiveness of telecom sector in India is borne out by the relatively higher average PE multiple of over 50 in deals like these.

    The good news is that it not just telecom service providers that are seeing the action. As the sector continues to grow by leaps and bounds, the telecom infrastructure segment too is expected to bring significant investment opportunities.

    Bharti Infratel (telecomtower subsidiary of Bharti-Airtel valued at a staggering $11 billion, with 40,000 towers and planned 30,000 more towers by end 2007) is considering offloading a 10-12 per cent stake in Infratel to banks and PE funds by the end of fiscal year 2007, or within the next 18 months. It is in talks with Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Citi, Lehman Brothers and Warburg Pincus.

    Reliance Communication too is expected to either sell stake to PE players/financial investors, or go for a public listing in the coming months in Reliance Telecom Infrastructure.

    Tata Tele services is already in talks with Temasek and some other PE players for divesting a sizeable stake (up to 20 per cent) in its infrastructure subsidiary, holding wireless towers and other related telecom infrastructure.